A park ranger with Texas Parks and Wildlife provides safety tips in the wake of the death of a 21-year-old man who was fatally injured after he fell while hiking off trail.
Kristopher Rivera / El Paso Times

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Open space advocate Rick Bonart submits a petition to City Clerk Darby Winters on June 20. The petition seeks to protect open land near the Franklin Mountains State Park from development.(Photo11: Elida S. Perez/El Paso Times)Buy Photo

Opponents of a controversial plan to develop land near Franklin Mountains State Park in Northwest El Paso are continuing the fight to protect the desert area used for hiking and biking.

Open-space advocates Wednesday submitted a petition with more than 2,000 signatures seeking an ordinance to preserve the site.

“We are serious about wanting to save this open space and this is how we have to do it,” said Rick Bonart, who has served on the Public Service Board and the Open Space Advisory Committee.

At issue is Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 12, located at the northwest portion of the city. It encompasses about 1,007 acres of undeveloped land abutting Franklin Mountains State Park.

This is an image of the Lost Dog Trail in Northwest El Paso near the Franklin Mountains State Park.(Photo11: Judy Ackernan/Special to the El Paso Times)

The site includes the Lost Dog Trail head — the launching site for several trails currently used for hiking and biking that open space advocates are trying to protect.

“We’ve tried to talk to City Council and they are pushing very hard to get this project done and we tried to put the brakes on and let them know that we want to preserve TIRZ 12 land as natural open space,” Bonart said.

Plan projects 9,455 housing units

By establishing the tax increment zone, city officials anticipate the construction of a large-scale mixed-use development that will include about 9,455 housing units and about 829,000-square-feet of commercial space.

The city also wants to sell the land for the development to a private entity.

City officials have said funding generated by the TIRZ will go toward public infrastructure, including stormwater drainage, and to encourage private development that will generate additional tax revenue for local taxing jurisdictions, such as school districts and El Paso County.

According to city documents, the financing plan will help fund about $109 million in public improvements related to streets, water and sewers, parks and open spaces, as well as economic development grants through the city’s 33 percent contribution of property tax revenues generated within the site. The remaining 66 percent of property tax revenues will go toward the general fund over the 36-year term.

Jessica Herrera, director of the city's Economic and International Development department, said in an emailed statement to the El Paso Times that the TIRZ 12 final project and financing plan will be presented to City Council on Tuesday for consideration.

Vote set for Tuesday

The City Council will have a public hearing Tuesday to vote on the project and the financing plan for the reinvestment zone.

"The City Clerk’s office received a petition on Wednesday calling for the city to preserve all land within TIRZ 12. The City Clerk’s office will complete the verification process and will follow the appropriate steps," Herrera said.

The City Clerk’s Office has 30 days to count and verify the signatures on the petition that were submitted Wednesday.

The group was required to collect signatures from 1,666 registered voters — which amounts to at least 5 percent of the voters who participated in the last general city election in May 2017 as required under the City Charter.

If the petition is valid, the City Council would then vote whether to approve introducing the ordinance.

Last year, City Council took no action on two petitions submitted by a group wanting to protect the site where the city plans to build the controversial $180 million Downtown multipurpose arena in Union Plaza that encompasses a neighborhood referred to as Duranguito.

Max Grossman, a historic preservation advocate leading a legal battle against the city’s planned arena site, recently filed a lawsuit against the city, saying the mayor and several city representatives violated Section 3.11 of the City Charter, which "establishes a procedure under which a specified number of voters may present a signed petition to the City Clerk setting forth an ordinance that the voters want to be enacted."

Bonart said he is prepared for a legal fight if the city either takes no action or does not place the ordinance to protect the open space on a City Council agenda.

“We hope that won’t be necessary and I hope that they won’t make us go through the trouble of making a second petition, but that is a big concern,” Bonart said. “We don’t know if they are going to try to push this through or if they are going to try to override what is the obvious will of the people.”

Victor Estorga dances among the poppies Saturday during the 2016 Poppy Festival at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology. The festival celebrates the beauty of the poppies on the northeast side of Transmountain Drive. Music, food and activities were available as well as Native American dancing by Boy Scouts Adventure Crew 66. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES

The poppies on the Franklin Mountains stretch toward the sun Monday afternoon in northeast El Paso. The poppies are having a strong showing this spring due to higher-than-normal moisture this winter. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES